


Envy

by mirawonderfulstar



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Body Image, Character Study, F/F, Feelings Realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirawonderfulstar/pseuds/mirawonderfulstar
Summary: For the first time Shiki looked at Eri’s body and recognized the way she felt as something other than envy.
Relationships: Eri/Misaki Shiki
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Envy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Omnisocks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omnisocks/gifts).



When Shiki woke up in the streets of Shibuya, the first thing she did was run for the nearest storefront and look at her reflection. The second thing she did was put her face in her hands and cry.

She’d got what she’d always wanted. How many nights had she lay awake staring at the ceiling and dreading school the next day, thinking that if she only looked like Eri everything would be different. Eri was smart, and confident, and talented, and _gorgeous_ , so of course everything came easily to her. Nothing had ever come easily to Shiki.

And then, one day, she’d died. She’d died and been given the chance to have her dearest wish granted, and now all she could do was cry in front of a window. Occasionally she would glance up at her eyes, no longer hidden behind glasses; or her hair, no longer short and mousy but long and sleek; or her skin, clear and blemish-free where before she’d been covered in zits. She could barely believe it was real, was sure that any second now she was going to look up from where she was hiding her eyes and see her own face looking back at her again, but it didn’t happen. The reflection persisted, and eventually Shiki stopped crying and let her hands fall to her sides. She scrubbed at her eyes and pushed her hair back from her face.

She wanted new clothes.

Shiki felt herself starting to smile as she headed towards 104. She had some money in her pocket, and she was dead, which meant she didn’t have to worry about her parents’ complaints if they could see how she was dressed, and she was _Eri_ , which meant she no longer had to worry about whether her figure suited the trends she was into. She broke into a full-fledged beam as she made it inside and started pulling hangers off racks.

In no time at all Shiki had a sizeable stack of things to try on, and she made her way towards the changing room at the back of the store.

A momentary twinge of guilt yanked at Shiki as she passed a rack of shirts that reminded her of a project she and Eri had worked on together, but she forcibly ignored it as she approached the changing rooms and stepped inside, arranging her many clothes on the hooks lining the little cubicle. She started unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing and stopped, staring at her reflection— at Eri— in the full length mirror.

Shiki had seen Eri naked plenty of times when they’d been making clothes together. Altering a hem here, a shoulder there, involved a lot of taking clothes on and off, by necessity. It had never bothered Shiki before. Maybe because she’d been focused on the task at hand, or maybe because it had never bothered her friend and she’d taken her cues from her. But it was bothering her now.

Shiki undid another couple of buttons, her hands trembling slightly and a light blush spreading across her face. When she slid the shirt off her shoulders she risked a look up at her reflection—at Eri staring back at her— and let out a squeak.

The rest of her clothes came off quickly after that, and Shiki stared at what was now her body. Eri’s long legs, small breasts a frilly bra, and a blush spreading down her chest from Shiki’s continued gaze. Her heart was racing in someone else’s chest, and it struck Shiki then, like lightning, that her friend really was _beautiful_. 

Shiki’s breath stuck in her throat as her eyes flicked back up to meet Eri’s in the mirror. The rush of blood in her ears drown out her earlier, briefer guilt over the shirt as she realized all at once the scale of the mistake she’d made. For the first time Shiki looked at Eri’s body and recognized the way she felt as something other than envy.


End file.
